What To Do When You’re Scared To Death Of Clicking “Publish”

Last night as I was recording my new podcast, I realized why most of us get scared when we’re about to publish something we really, really care about.

On this episode Russell explains why he suddenly has empathy for people who struggle to publish their message. Here are some of the interesting things he talks about in this episode:

Why he re-recorded another podcast he’s doing a few times, and was still afraid to push publish.

Why in the decade he’s been publishing podcasts, webinars, videos etc he has always preached to just do, but for the first time he actually has empathy for those who have a hard time doing that.

And why he is still publishing that podcast, even though he is second guessing things he said, and why you should follow in his footsteps and publish too.

So listen here to find out why it took Russell more than a decade to feel empathy for people who struggle to publish their message.

Full Episode Transcript

What’s up everybody? This is Russell Brunson, welcome to the Marketing Secrets Podcast. Today I want to share with you a message about the fact that I finally understand how some of you guys feel.

Alright everybody, I’m excited, I’m heading into the office today for a lot of fun. We’re going to be working on getting Mother Funnel live finally and a bunch of other amazing stuff, so I’m really excited.

But I had an epiphany this morning and I needed to share with you guys because I think I finally understand how some people feel. So I have been publishing for a long, long time, right. I started my internet marketing business probably 15 some odd years ago now, and in that time I have published a bajillion podcasts, and videos, and tele-seminars, and webinars, and summits, and events, and all sorts of stuff. So for me, I think I lost my empathy for people who struggle when it’s publishing stuff.

I’m like, “Just do it. Just go out there and do it. Just push record and talk and blah, blah, blah.” Because that’s what I do, and I forgot what it’s like to go through the vulnerability and fear and the stress and all those things that come with putting your message out there. And what’s been fun, as some of you guys know, recently I launched another podcast and it’s something different that I’ve never done before. It’s not related to marketing or sales or business or anything like that, it’s related to my religion, my faith, my beliefs.

And it’s funny because I was like, oh this is going to be really fun and really easy. I’m just going to go and start, just click record and start talking. I went out and I started to do it, and it was way different. So the podcast, for those who don’t know, it’s at bookofmormonchallenge.com. I recorded the first two episodes probably 9 or 10 months ago and then they sat there because I was too nervous to put them out there. And then the third one was easier and that one came out fast, and then the fourth one, which I recorded yesterday, I literally spent a long time, I spent 2, almost 3 weeks preparing for it, getting nervous, writing the outline, rewriting it, writing the stories out, then rewriting it.

Then I was like, man why am I so nervous about this? I was so nervous it took me almost three weeks to publish it. And then last night finally I was like, last night was Sunday, so I had a good spiritual experience all day and I was like, okay, I’m in the zone. I’m going to do it.

So I spent another 2 or 3 hours working on the podcast, outlining, interviewing, getting all the things put together and then I started recording it at about 11:15 at night. I started recording it and I was 47 minutes into the recording and I was like, I don’t like this. I hate every word I said, I don’t like how I said it. I didn’t like all these things, so I stopped it and deleted it. And I was like, that 47 minutes and it’s now after midnight and I’m like all tired. But I need to redo it because I feel like now I understand the stories better and I did it.

So I clicked record again and I spent another hour, over an hour recording the next podcast episode. And then I sent it to my brother to go and edit and get it all ready to go live. And then all morning long I’ve been second guessing, maybe I should do it again. I told that story wrong, and I didn’t really have….all these things. The ending when I did this, I don’t like how I did it.

And then all the sudden this morning I was like, I bet this is how other people feel. Maybe the reason why I’m doing this exercise, amongst other reasons, was to get empathy for people I’m working with. When you’re nervous, you’re scared about publishing. It’s just interesting.

So I wanted to share this because first off, I feel like I have empathy now for a lot of you guys for the first time in like a decade. So hopefully that’s good. But I get it now, I get the fear and the nervousness that goes behind putting yourself out there, especially when it’s something you love and you believe about and you care about and you want other people to listen and you really, honestly, want to serve people.

I totally, completely understand that, especially now. So I guess my message for you guys today is kind of two-fold. Number one, I have empathy for you; I understand the fear of putting yourself out there. And number two I’m publishing that episode today, even though I want to edit it and tweak and change it. No, I’m just going to put it out there, because good enough is good enough.

A lot of us never get started because we’re so nervous about it not being good enough. And the problem with that is we never get started. The goal of what we do as authors, as speakers, as coaches, as experts and whatever you want to call yourself, someone who’s trying to change the world in your own little way is to get things out there.

One thing I know for sure, by not posting, not putting it out there, it’s not going to change anyone’s life. That’s the one thing I’m positive of. By putting it out there it has the ability to at least affect somebody. Maybe it wasn’t as good or as thought out or whatever it might be, but it’s important to get it out there because that’s the only way you can actually touch and affect and help and serve somebody else. And that’s the whole reason behind what we do, and why we do what we do.

So hopefully this gives you encouragement to know that even Russell gets scared sometimes. Even Russell second guesses himself and gets nervous, but when it all comes down to it, you just gotta click publish, just put it out there. Hopefully that gives some inspiration to somebody out there who’s nervous today, and hopefully it gives you permission to do it.

So there you go, you now have permission to do it. Just go and do it. Just click record on the podcast or on the video or on the blog, click post. Or whatever the thing is that you’re doing to publish your message, just go out there and just push it. Just push the button. No matter how imperfect it seems, no matter how many flaws you see, how many things you know you could have done better, no matter whatever that is, it’s just time to put that out there and just let the world have what you got.

And you have the full ability to re-record it in the future. I’m on podcast episode now, I don’t know probably 5 or 600, I have no idea and I’ve probably shared the same message multiple times over the last 5 or 6 years that I’ve done this. And hopefully each time it gets better. It’s okay to publish the same thing later with your new lens of understanding and what you’ve gained in the process of growing and learning.

So there you go you guys. Today is the day, go click publish. Make it go live, even if you’re scared to death, even if you hate it, even if whatever, just push it live. I promise you that worst case scenario is it changes someone’s life. Best case scenario, it has a huge impact. I guess I should say, worst case scenario, nobody sees it. Best case scenario is it changes somebody’s life, so that’s worth it. It makes it worth pushing publish and go. So there you go guys, push go.

Alright guys, thanks so much for everything. I’m heading in for the day today, it’s going to be an amazing day. I appreciate you all, and we’ll talk to you soon. Bye everybody.

Who is Russell Brunson?

Over the past 10 years, Russell has built a following of over a million entrepreneurs, sold hundreds of thousands of copies of his books, popularized the concept of sales funnels, and co-founded a software company called ClickFunnels that helps tens of thousands of entrepreneurs quickly get their message out to the marketplace.